Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

Save your viral campaign and major inventory buildup for later. Good traction on a limited rollout is great validation of a business model. It allows you to test costs, quality and pricing in a few stores or a single city, with minimum jeopardy and maximum speed for recovery and corrections. Focus on collecting customer references.

Technical Review 399

Technical Review Product Advisory Board Business Model 399

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

For example, if you are trying to determine viral coefficient (see Startup Metrics ), then the focus should be around those aspects of the MVP. You might also have a business plan, marketing plan, financials, competitor analysis or other kinds of background document.

Developer 354

Developer Technical Review Fractional CTO Software Review 354

TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

Ads, Viral/Social, SEO)? Social Integration/Viral Outreach Is your application tied into any social networks? What about other kinds of viral outreach? Who are the other stakeholders involved? Are there other founders, business leaders, partners, or administrators? How will you be taking this to market?

Developer 520

Developer Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 520

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

That first burst of customers via word-of-mouth or a viral video won’t sustain your growth. Even the best solutions require marketing to survive. With information overload due to the Internet, you need to find your customers, rather than assume they will find you.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Investors my tell you that, but what they can look at your product on paper and tell what it does and they will understand if it can be built.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

They know how to capitalize on social media, viral marketing, events, and the new tools of the trade. The best sales people in any company are highly focused, and self-motivated by the commissions they can earn by closing a few big deals. They are always ready to move on to the next big opportunity as markets change.

Angel Investor 267

Angel Investor Social Media LLC Viral 267

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

Building logistics businesses are never easy and it’s not always as sexy as building a consumer application that goes viral. But finding a market which is large, out-dated, has zero tech and is ripe for disruption can lead to very large outcomes. That’s some of what I suspect that team at 8VC saw in MakeSpace.

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs put all their resources in one big make-or-break effort they can’t measure, or they count on word-of-mouth and viral marketing, which are totally unpredictable. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2021

Viral marketing” and “word-of-mouth” are tools of disciples in business today. Social relationships are built around zealots and their disciples who ultimately engage a wider congregation and perpetrate the culture shift. Emotion, rather than logic, drives disciples. Don’t underestimate their value and potential.

Marketing 317

Marketing Social Media Affiliate Viral 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Don’t let your passion convince you that word-of-mouth and viral marketing will suffice against well-funded competitors and ever more demanding customers. Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product. Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs put all their resources in one big make-or-break effort they can’t measure, or they count on word-of-mouth and viral marketing, which are totally unpredictable. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

The product is so good, helpful, and easy to use that it literally almost does its own marketing organically through the product’s viral nature, just as Hotmail and Gmail have done since inception. It scaled like lightning by solving an urgent, painful problem for millions of consumers. What’s the honest trajectory?

Startup 334

Startup Cofounder Customer Development Viral 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2023

That’s real viral marketing. One startup, no matter how smart the people and how well it is funded, can only do so much. You need to convince a thousand partners that they can become winners, if they join you as believers. IBM wanted to do the whole job themselves, because it was the only way they know how to deliver quality.

Startup 205

Startup Viral Software Developers Software Development 205

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs put all their resources in one big make-or-break effort they can’t measure, or they count on word-of-mouth and viral marketing, which are totally unpredictable. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Save your viral campaign and major inventory buildup for later. Good traction on a limited rollout is great validation of a business model. It allows you to test costs, quality and pricing in a few stores or a single city, with minimum jeopardy and maximum speed for recovery and corrections. Focus on collecting customer references.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

channels (search, social, viral, new media), cost-efficient distribution We often reference Dave’s work when talking to innovators. Be sure to check out the entire presentation. Conclusion Startup metrics are an invaluable tool for founders and innovators.

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 260

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Businesses that concentrate on creating authentic, timely content and posting consistently during peak hours can better their chances of going viral and becoming the next big thing. The post How To Take Your Small Business Viral appeared first on Young Upstarts.

Viral 246

Viral Small Business Social Media Media 246

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

They qualify every initiative with, “well this didn’t prove viral adoption last time so I don’t expect a silver bullet this time.” Many still put in the hours but you can see the stress in their eyes and hear it in their voices. ” Sometimes the silver bullet does come. Often it doesn’t.

Churn Rate 371

Churn Rate Vesting Viral eCommerce 371

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

We spend a lot of time trying to get people focused on building products that have viral components and why that has to be measured and constantly tested. I tell people that they need to blog about their industry to drive customers and not blog to their egos to drive their peer group to their blogs.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Look at the rapid adoption of Groupon, LivingSocial or Instagram as proof of how rapidly businesses can grow through viral means. And finally it can’t be ignored that we’re not only payment ready, but we’re socially connected.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

The main B2C benchmarks have to do with traction: growth in user acquisition, user retention/churn, monetisation, as well as the effectiveness of consumer marketing + virality. power user curve showing a smile — with a big concentration of engaged users (you grow out from this strong core) viral factor >0.5

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Marketing and sales spend is nil, so there has to be a reason it spreads by word of mouth, ideally virally as a natural result of using the product itself. $10/mo simple enough to be self-service). 10/mo means people see you as a cheap version of something else, but still expect a phone number. Think: GoDaddy).

Bootstrapping 294

Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 10, 2020

In this day and age of social media sharing, it’s possible to reach millions of viewers if your video goes viral. You can get an impressive return on investment if you manage to get your video marketing campaign right. With that said, you need to develop an insightful video that offers excellent value to your viewers. Final Thoughts.

Video 246

Video Marketing Social Media Mobile 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Content can go viral – the highest quality stuff is shared. So what happens when production is reduced by 99% and distribution bends to infinity? Content goes global (of Maker Studios 4.4 billion video views / months 55% are international). Producers can cost-effectively test formats and build fans as they go.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 15, 2019

Recently, McDonalds shifted from plastic straws to paper straws after a twitter campaign went viral on how they use 1.8 This can be the same for business models that have worked for decades. If it doesn’t work anymore, change it. M plastic straws a day in UK alone.

Small Business 196

Small Business Software Review Technical Review Viral 196

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Or app companies that went viral due to spammy friend requests to download in an app store only to have a community backlash and subsequent crash. “Hacking” growth is only sustainable with a truly great product.

Product 150

Product B2B Warrant Technical Review 150

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

There are increasing efforts in the industry to create MVPs to validate your app, make it go viral, and collect customer feedback with minimal investments. This allows for directing development resources to be directed towards emerging opportunities in the blockchain space.

API 158

API Java Ruby Software Developers 158

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

In today’s AI landscape, this means moving beyond basic text interfaces to leverage AI for innovative features and engagement mechanics that drive viral adoption and organic growth. AI is changing the game in consumer tech.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Obsessing over going viral. Creative agency founder Dan Kelsall has helped many of his clients go viral. Curious about the impact of virality on revenue, he dug into demand generation campaign data. In most cases, viral posts generated less demand. Don’t focus on this at all.

Demand 124

Demand B2B Distribution Channel 124

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Viral short form can help! Viral short form can exponentially increase awareness of your startup brand. You can highlight KLT elements on Reels, but I can’t see that going viral. You’ll get lower quality leads but a lot more of them. So you still get a greater number of good leads.

Viral 108

Viral Startup Bootstrapping Algorithm 108

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

There is nothing viral! People said this about Ring (which went from startup to selling to Amazon > $1 billion in around 5 years), Facebook, YouTube, Airbnb, Uber, Twitter, Instagram and many other great behemoths of the technology industry. Ah, but Bird doesn’t have network effects! Anybody can launch a scooter service! Not really.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Los Angeles Technical Review 256

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2020

They also have immense viral potential on social media. But there’s no reason to worry, thanks to the wonders of realistic 3D animation. 3D animation is better for a variety of reasons. Not only do 3D videos increase brand recognition, but they are also very interesting and can convey messages in a memorable way.

Video 229

Video Advertising Technical Review Viral 229

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Viral Adoption / Group Use Cases Jamie didn’t want to stop at a single household. millions of people watch QVC and I will have unique access to them to tell our story that they might not pay attention to in an online ad?—?so so he went on. He believed he could build a “Ring of Security” around your neighborhood.

Security 247

Security Los Angeles Silicon Valley Video 247

ReadWriteStart

JULY 23, 2021

11 LinkedIn Posting Tips to Get Viral on LinkedIn. Yeah, you have a post that has the potential to go viral, and then also human editors will come in. The post 11 LinkedIn Posting Tips to Get Viral on LinkedIn appeared first on ReadWrite. They affect the total reach that you can have with your LinkedIn post.

Viral 216

Viral Algorithm Framework B2B 216

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Too many entrepreneurs put all their resources in one big make-or-break effort they can’t measure, or they count on word-of-mouth and viral marketing, which are totally unpredictable. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161